Apple HomeKit Secure Video Gets AI Boost: Descriptive Alerts and Natural Language Search

Apple has announced significant upgrades to HomeKit Secure Video, arriving with iOS 27 and tvOS 27. These include Apple Intelligence features that provide more descriptive alerts from connected cameras and allow users to search footage using natural language. The features were unveiled at WWDC and will be publicly available this fall.

A journalist has already tested the developer beta versions. Notifications are now more descriptive — for instance, instead of “animal detected,” users might see “dog in yard” or “lawn mowing.” Each clip gets a short AI-generated description, such as “Someone held a cat in the kitchen.” However, these descriptions are briefer than those from Ring or Google. Natural language search works well; searching “show me my cat” returned many cat videos, but the system could not distinguish between a gray cat and a black cat.

The interface has been redesigned: recorded clips appear in small boxes, and loading is faster. It is now possible to view more than two live streams while away from home. Clips are sorted chronologically by time, not by camera, enabling real-time event tracking. Clicking a clip shows footage from other cameras recorded at the same time.

Another long-awaited addition is energy monitoring via Matter. The new Energy tab displays data from connected devices, such as the Ikea Grillplats plug, showing current, average, and daily usage in kWh. However, energy data cannot yet be used to trigger automations, such as “turn on the porch light if a package is detected.”

Apple also announced support for 2K and 4K resolution, but this feature is not yet in the beta and will depend on camera manufacturers like Aqara, Eve, and Eufy. Overall, the improvements are impressive, but Apple still lags in automation and intelligence features, which are key for a smart home platform to become truly proactive.